Scouts to give award to Herring
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on January 25, 2004 2:01 AM
Sherwin Herring has been named to receive the Boy Scouts' Distinguished Citizen Award from the Torhunta District.
The award will be presented on April 19 at Walnut Creek Country Club. Advance tickets are available for a $150 donation for two by calling 734-1714.
Herring, the CEO of Southco in Goldsboro, became involved in the Scouts at the request of Dick Moffatt. He was asked to serve on the board of directors for the Tuscarora Council of the Torhunta District in the mid-1980s. He also helped with the 1991 Capital Campaign.
When his son, Kevin, was old enough to join the Cub Scouts, Herring became the Cub Master for Pack 22 at Spring Creek School. He continues to serve as chairman of the Southco Boy Scouts Golf Tournament, which has raised over $184,000. He received the Silver Beaver, the Scouts' top volunteer award, in 2000, and he became a James E. West Fellow in 2001.
Herring was born on April 22, 1952, in Goldsboro, the son of Allen and Emma Herring. He and his wife, the former Becky Grice, were married in 1971 and live in Goldsboro with their son, Kevin, age 14. They also have a daughter, April Herring, age 24, who lives in Florence, S.C., and works for Philip Morris, USA.
After graduating from Eastern Wayne High School in 1970, Herring attended Wayne Community College for two quarters and then decided to try the job market. He went to work with Southern Wholesale Co. in 1971 as a warehouse worker. He worked a variety of positions with Southern Wholesale including truck driver, warehouse manager, night shift manager and office work.
He became part-owner in 1979, and he stayed on as general manager in 1981 when the company was purchased by Ray Bryan, David Weil and Darby Wood. The name of the company was then changed to Southco Distributing Co. Sherwin became president of Southco in 1986 and became the principal stockholder in 1996. He currently serves as CEO.
The person who nominated him said Herring has always been very active in the industry that he is involved with. He is president-elect of the Southern Association of Wholesale Distributors, a board member of the American Wholesale Marketers Association and a board member of the N.C. Wholesalers Association. He is a past president of the N.C. Wholesalers Association, past president of the N.C. Tobacco Distributors Association, and a past board member of the N.C. Convenience Store Association. He is a recipient of the N.C. Wholesalers Distinguished Service Award, the Lorillard Citizenship Award and the Southern Association of Wholesale Distributors Humanitarian Award.
He serves on the United Way board of directors and served as the 2002 United Way Campaign chairman. He serves on the Wayne County Boys & Girls Club board of directors where he is a past president, and he serves on the Wachovia board of directors. He also serves as finance chairman at Garris Chapel Church.
Other past civic and professional affiliations include member of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce board, the Salvation Army board, the Boy Scouts Tuscarora Council board, executive committee director for the ECU Educational Foundation, a member of the Walnut Creek Country Club board, and past exalted ruler of the Goldsboro Elks Lodge. He was named the Wayne County Economic Development Commission's Industrialist of the Year in 1992 and again in 2002.
His hobbies include golf, hunting and working on his farm.